Illegal connections and other non-technical losses cost Eskom millions of rands in the Western Cape.
The power utility on Thursday said those losses amounted to more than R700 million a year.
This week Eskom implemented load reduction in Khayelitsha to avoid network overloading during peak hours.
Eskom warns load reduction is likely to be expanded to other high-density areas in the Western Cape beyond Khayelitsha.
The power utility’s Alwie Lester said it was a must as network overloading damaged equipment that costs millions to repair.
“Our intention is to identify some of these networks to switch them off at particular times of the day in order for us to save equipment and ensure that we continue to supply to legally paying customers. The downside of this is that when we switch this off, it will affect legally paying customers.”
There are an estimated 20 informal settlements in Eskom supply areas in the province and many have illegal and unsafe connections.
Lester said the sustainable solution would be for informal settlements to be formalised or for informal settlers to be moved to land that could be serviced by municipalities.
Source – EWN
